Functional Food Rich in Bioactive Components for Management of Obesity and Related Metabolic Changes in Obese Women

Abstract

Background

Obesity is a global health problem that requires a safe and efficient approach. The objective of the research was to study how to manage obesity with functional food and dietary advice. Female obese subjects were given a daily amount of functional food for 2 months along with dietary advice. The functional food consisted of a mixture of powdered orange pectin, carrot, eggplant, oat, wheat bran, green tea, green coffee bean, Nigella sativa seeds, flax seed, roasted lemon, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and chili pepper. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were assessed before and after dietary intervention. Bioactive components in the functional food were analyzed.

Results

Results showed obese subjects to demonstrate dyslipidemia and elevated insulin resistance, plasma malondialdehyde, glucose, and interleukin-6, together with reduced liver and kidney function compared to normal controls. Intervention with functional food with dietary advice produced significant improvement in the determined biochemical parameters except for triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, nitric oxide, and alanine transaminase, which only showed insignificant improvements. The functional food also demonstrated a significant reduction in body mass index and waist/hip ratio. Analysis of the functional food showed high phenolic and flavonoid contents and phytosterols with an ω-3/ω-6 ratio of 1/10. Dietary fibers were calculated to be 30.94%.

Conclusion

The intervention with functional food together with dietary advice has antiobesity effect with potential reduction of comorbidities associated with obesity, which might be due to the presence of phenolic compounds, phytosterols, ω-3 fatty acids, and dietary fibers.